Equity Center Radio

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Wayne Pierce, Equity Center’s Executive Director, in today’s broadcast, interviews Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, the education beat writer for the San Antonio Express-News. In this lively conversation Ms. LaCoste-Caputo discusses her role in reporting on the legislature and the differences in techniques and, indeed, types of stories, between her and the regular capital reporters. She feels that given her in-depth knowledge in the field of education and unique background, she at times actually has an edge.

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo has been a member of the San Antonio Express-News Education Team since August 2004, when she joined the newspaper. She’s the team’s senior education writer, covering the city’s two largest school districts, as well as focusing on policy issues such as school funding and reform and has won several awards for her education coverage in Texas.

Before moving to Texas, Jenny worked for the Pensacola (Fl.) News Journal where she covered education for six years, winning state and national awards for her work reporting on the voucher debate in Florida, issues facing high-poverty, high-minority schools and environmental links to developmental disorders and learning disabilities. Prior to that, Jenny worked for the Northwest Florida Daily News and the Clovis (N.M.) News Journal.

Ms. LaCoste-Caputo graduated from the University of Maryland University College in Tokyo, Japan in 1995 with a degree in history, with an emphasis in journalism. While living in Japan for three years, Jenny worked for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools program as a special education tutor at Edgren High School on Misawa Air Base. She also was a substitute and taught English as a second language to Japanese students – experiences that sparked an interest in education that never went away.

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

Alternative Play Button

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our host, Lauren Cook, has a lively conversation with Richard Kouri, the Assistant Executive Director of Public Affairs for the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), about the current state budget shortfall and how difficult it will be to fight for new funding for schools during the 2011 Legislative Session. Richard emphasizes that new funding is a must if Texas is to compete nationally and globally. They also discuss how crucial the concept of equity is, and how inequities in our current funding system trickle down to the teacher and student level, with a devastating effect.

Kouri served as TSTA president and vice president between the years of 1989 through 1993. He is the former president of the Austin Association of Teachers. While employed in the Austin Independent School District he taught English for 13 years at Anderson and Johnston high schools. He was one of a select group of teachers chosen to staff the Liberal Arts Academy which was an innovative magnet school program at Johnston.

Richard Kouri

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
 

Alternative Play Button

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today’s broadcast features Keith Bryant, Superintendent of Bullard ISD and President of the Texas Association of Mid-Size Schools (TAMS). Keith previously served as Superintendent of Lamesa ISD. He may be reached at keith.bryant@bullardisd.net Prior to being named Superintendent in Lamesa, he was a teacher, Vocational Director, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Assistant Superintendent.

Dr. Wayne Pierce, Executive Director of the Equity Center, speaks with Keith about TAMS, which represents 230 districts across Texas. They discuss the diseconomies of scale that exist among districts and the importance of the mid-sized adjustment, a funding allotment enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1995. [You can read the legislative language by clicking Allotment Here ] The mid-sized adjustment provides much needed funding for school districts with enrollment of 1,600 to 5,000 students, and was phased in to full implementation by 2001.

Our sponsor of the week is Ray, Wood & Bonilla, Attorneys-at-Law.
Call them at 512.328.8877 or go to their web pages to discover more about this gold sponsor at
www.rwblaw.net

Equity Center Radio | Another Interview With Joe Smith of TexasISD.com Hosted by Ray Freeman

We are pleased to have him back on our show and think you will learn much from this interesting man.

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the play button:ALTERNATIVE PLAY BUTTON